Cover of The Slight Edge
Over the past two weeks I’ve twice offered to connect people to individuals they could have benefitted from knowing. And who could have benefitted from knowing them. But, alas, it didn’t happen.
Let me explain why.
In both cases I offered to facilitate an introduction. I next reached out to the person with whom I was connecting them via email or Facebook message to ask permission to make the introduction. But, get this: before I had time to send the email requesting permission, the other people’s agent / hired gun marketer forged ahead and contacted my friend. And not in a gentle way. More like the proverbial bull in a china shop.
Needless to say, this didn’t go over well. Or, as the Germans say, didn’t go down well. The pushy, demanding emails were ignored and both individuals have, mostly likely, indefinitely burned bridges.
Let’s pause and consider what would have happened had I been allowed to introduce the two individuals.
Instead of a cold email, they would have been warmly introduced. The trust that I have established with my friend could have been transferred to the new relationship. Alternately, my friend could have declined an introduction and the pushy agent could have spared her client the embarrassment and blemish of a soiled reputation.
So what was the hurry? I have no idea. In both cases my request for an introduction was “scooped” by the marketer’s email in less than an hour.
The only conclusion I can draw is that, in both cases, the paid agents were protecting their perceived value above their clients’ interest. What a shame.
Last week I read Jeff Olson’s The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and was reminded of those missed connections when I read these two sentences:
You plant, then you cultivate and finally you harvest. In today’s world, everyone wants to go directly from plant to harvest.
But that’s not the way it works. With plants or with people.
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